Will Comcast Finally Buy Sprint?

As telco giants AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) move deeper into the TV business, cable giants like Comcast (CMCSA) may have to get into the wireless business to compete. That could eventually involve Comcast buying Sprint Nextel (S), the no. 3 U.S. wireless carrier.

“AT&T and Verizon are not the elephants in the room, they’re the super elephants, They’ve got all the market share, and it’s going to be a tough road to hoe”

“Putting a bunch of us in a company with the benefit of Sprint and their infrastructure felt like an interesting road for us to go into”

Roberts also avoided a clear answer to the question as to whether Clearwire was Comcast’s sole wireless strategy, indicating that Comcast’s “current” focus was making Clearwire successful.

Greenfield's point: If cable companies do have to build or buy their way into wireless, it's not going to be cheap. And he thinks that kind of capex (or acquisition spend) is "substantially understated" in Wall Street's models.